"America" (Schooner Yacht)

While the schooner yacht "America" was built in 1851 for a syndicate of New York yachtsmen to race in England, her design concept appears to have originated in the previous year, when Fitz Henry Lane happened to be in New York City. Lane's painting, Yacht "America" from Three Views, c.1851(not published), shows details he surely would have corrected had he seen the vessel as built in 1851, pointing to the likelihood that he was portraying the schooner in its design state. His later painting, based on the Dutton lithograph from a sketch by Brierly, clearly points out his attention to subsequent changes in the schooner's design.

Plaque reads: "Schooner Yacht America. Designed by George Steers and built by William H. Brown at New York City, 1851 Winner of the Royal Yacht Squadron £100 Cup in a race around the Isle of Wight, August 22, 1851."

Jonny: "Ho my Hi! 'ow she goes!! it his'nt fair I ham sure t'aint!!! She must 'av an engine hunder the keel..."

Yankee: "Where are your yachts now, Jonny? s-a-y- Do you think your wash tubs can come up to a real Yankee Clipper? Sorry for you, Jonny, but it can't be helped... A Yankee Ship a Yankee Crew, you know Jonny."

While this painting of "America" might be regarded as "primitive," it contains much accurate detail of the sail plan and rigging which agrees closely with surviving documentation of these aspects. Note the jib and jib-boom which were set during the Cowes regatta, only to be quickly taken in when the jib-boom broke, and never used again.